


it's taken me forever just to try to know

by bobert_drake



Category: Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Spider-Man (Comicverse)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 11:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17120324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobert_drake/pseuds/bobert_drake
Summary: Johnny gets hurt. MJ and Peter help him.





	it's taken me forever just to try to know

**Author's Note:**

> title is from "Stutter" by Mariana's Trench!

MJ came back with a bag of grapes and an armful of bottled water to find Peter staring sadly down at the lump beneath his covers. The room smelled like matches. She bumped her elbow against the door and offered a smile she didn't really feel when Peter stood to help her with her delivery.

"I got all the blankets I could find," he explained in a murmur as he took the bottles from her hands and set them on the night table. The line between his brows was deep with anxiety, pulled taut like the rest of his body. MJ could practically feel the nervous energy from her place beside him.

Peter held up the bag of grapes with a questioning look. "It was all that was in your fridge, babe," MJ said, smiling and taking the bag from his hands. She set them on the table before turning to Johnny, who indeed was cuddled into no less than five blankets atop Peter's sheets.

She hadn't heard the full story, but when she received a worryingly quiet and slow voice message from Peter that morning asking for her help, she held off on pressing for details. Peter grew quiet and angry when people were hurt, and though Johnny didn't seem like he had any lashes or broken bones, he was asleep like a rock when MJ had jogged into the apartment and hadn't moved an inch since she'd arrived.

Now Peter sat lightly on the edge of the bed and gently touched Johnny's cheek, then pressed his entire palm to it. MJ came up behind him and placed a hand on his arm.

"He went nova twice. I told him not to, idiot, idiot- I told him," Peter began softly. The muscles under his thin shirt shifted as he clenched his fist, brimming with power. "I can't believe- no, I can believe. Stupid."

Johnny didn't feel very warm when MJ held his wrist between her hands, that was true. She figured a nap surrounded by warmth and some water and food would bring him back to normal temperature, but she was no doctor; Johnny probably needed a hospital.

Speaking of. "Are _you_ okay, Peter?" Her eyes drifted around his body, searching for the telltale signs of him hiding an injury from her. "Do you need to go to a hospital or-"

Peter leveled a look at her. "No hospitals." MJ fought the urge to roll her eyes, and instead pressed a hand into Peter's ribcage. He hissed quietly and tried to squirm around her poking fingers. "Stop, MJ, I'll be fine in a minute-"

"Then you aren't going out tonight with a couple of broken ribs and Johnny dead asleep in your bed." _Not for the first time_ , she didn't add. 

Peter didn't meet her eyes, instead focusing on a piece of Johnny's hair that wouldn't get off of his forehead. The fingers of his left hand were drumming on the mattress methodically. Peter's body was always busy, but even more so when he had energy to burn off.

MJ sat on the other side of Johnny and combed a hand through his hair. "Stay here with him tonight, Pete. Keep him warm."

There was a beat of silence before Peter sucked in a breath. "You know I can't."

"You can and you should. Do it for me," MJ said, leaning in, "do it for Johnny. Call Daredevil. Let him take your shift for one night." She stared into Peter's eyes, both of them stubborn as hell and neither backing down.

" _Johnny_ needs you," she repeated, and it was all Peter needed; the fight visibly melted from him, but the nervous energy stayed coiled in the line of his shoulders. 

"'Til he wakes up."

"The _night_ , Peter."

Peter huffed but he nodded, shifting to prop himself up next to Johnny on top of his covers. He glanced back at MJ, who smiled gently and pressed a kiss to his head, then Johnny's.

"Goodnight."

"Night. Thanks for helping."

 _I was scared_ , he didn't say.

 _You still are_ , she didn't reply.

She closed the door to his apartment softly, but turned in time to see Peter positioning Johnny so that he could lay in Peter's arms, against his chest. Peter would stay the night.


End file.
